The Map That Was Never For Sale

The bookshop Librairie Soleil has stood on a narrow Paris street for sixty years, its windows clouded with dust and affection. You are Marguerite, the owner's granddaughter, minding the shop for the afternoon while Grand-père rests upstairs. A tall man with careful eyes came in an hour ago asking about a portolan chart tucked in the back stock — a chart your grandfather has quietly decided is not for sale, though he hasn't said why. The man left, but his card is on the counter, and something in his manner told you he would send someone else. Now a woman in a grey coat has entered. She says she is from a museum, and she has very good reasons for you to hand over the chart.